Dillon Kivo is a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble bestselling author of The Authority Playbook and a nationally recognized expert in media, marketing, and personal branding. He is the Founder & CEO of PersonalBranding.com, a premier platform that has helped thousands of entrepreneurs, executives, and public figures secure top-tier media coverage and build lasting digital authority. He is also the host of the PersonalBranding.com with Dillon Kivo podcast—an industry-leading show that has ranked among the top 3 marketing podcasts on Apple, next to Gary Vaynerchuk, attracting some of the world’s most influential voices in business, branding, and entrepreneurship.
At just 25, Dillon became the youngest C-level executive of a publicly traded CBD company, cbdMD, where he helped scale the brand nationally and played a key role in its media breakthrough. In 2018, he made history by launching the first-ever CBD billboard in Times Square, pushing the industry into the mainstream.
He has led media and brand strategy for Fortune 500 companies, celebrities, professional athletes, influencers, and high-growth startups, specializing in SEO, reputation strategy, and high-impact press placements.
At ForgeUp, Dillon leads marketing strategy across the portfolio, helping companies dominate Google search results, earn trust through media, and create investor-ready brand positioning that accelerates capital and customer acquisition.